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Nice Jazz Festival
The Nice Jazz Festival, held annually since 1948 in Nice, on the French Riviera, is "the first jazz festival of international significance." At the inaugural festival, Louis Armstrong and his All Stars were the headliners. Frommer's calls it "the biggest, flashiest, and most prestigious jazz festival in Europe." Over the years, many artists, such as Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Humes, Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis, regularly appeared at the festival. After 1994, it saw a change of emphasis, with more world music and pop. But the festival's newest organizer, Vivian Sicnasi, has reinstated an eclectic mix of traditional and modern sounds with an international line-up; it remains "one of the Riviera's biggest annual events." Set in the vast Jardins de Cimiez (which contains a Roman amphitheatre), the event features several separate stages where groups perform simultaneously each evening, for eight days in July. In 2011, following years of falling attendance, the festival was moved from Cimiez to the more centrally located Place Masséna. It was reported that about 30,000 spectators attended the five-day festival in 2011. The 2012 festival took place from July 8–12 and performers included Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Erykah Badu, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Gregory Porter and the Jimi Brown Experience. The 2016 Festival, scheduled to begin on 16 July, was cancelled in the wake of the truck attack on 14 July 2016. Nice Jazz Festival 1948 Nice Jazz Festival 1949 1971 - 1972 The reunion at the Théâtre de Verdure. The experience was not repeated in Nice until 1971, this time at the Théâtre de Verdure and the Albert 1er Garden. The artists flocked to the capital of the Côte d’Azur for the great comeback: Ella Fitzgerald, Pharoah Sanders, T-Bone Walker, Stéphane Grappelli, Herbie Hancock quintet, Oscar Peterson trio, Roy Elridge, John Lewis, Al Grey, Percy Heath, Connie Key, Dizzy Gillespie, Daniel Humair, Sonny Stitt, Canonball Adderley, Charlie Mingus, Max Roach Trio… 1974 - 1993 The “Grande Parade du Jazz” at the Cimiez Arenas. But we had to wait until 1974 and La Grande Parade du Jazz to witness the full renaissance of jazz in a sylvan setting, that of the gardens of the Arenas of Cimiez. The festival drew a breath of fresh air and enjoyed into something of a boom, boosted by the support of the City of Nice and the producer George Wein. Every summer, dozens of bands and more than 200 musicians took to the different stages amidst the olive groves and the Roman ruins. A huge popular outdoor festival! The biggest names in jazz including several now gone, performed there: Stéphane Grappelli, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Mi Davis, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Carlos Santana... 1994 - 2010 Grand Parade becomes the Nice Jazz Festival. Whilst preserving the festive nature of the Grand Parade, the Nice Jazz Festival showed its determination to shake up the traditions by opening up to diverse musical styles. A choice acclaimed by the public. 2011 - 2012 Live from the Jardin Albert 1er. The then Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, made the twin decision to take over the running of the festival and bring it to the city centre. Forty years on, the festival returned to the Jardin Albert 1er and the Théâtre de Verdure, while Jazz Off took performances to neighbourhoods all over the city. 2013 The revival year. In 2013, a record audience of nearly 38 000 people attended the Nice Jazz Festival. They were there to see, among others, C2C, Earth, Wind and Fire, Ben Harper, Maceo Parker, Chick Corea and George Benson. 2014 A prestigious festival with the new setting of the “Promenade du Paillon”. The Promenade du Paillon was opened in October 2013, and the Nice Jazz Festival took full benefit of this delightful new setting. The official Nice Jazz Festival and the “Off” fringe hosted more than 45,000 spectators who came along to the open-air party, which locals had awaited with anticipation. High-profile artists once again trod the boards of the Masséna and Théâtre de Verdure stages, like Richard Galliano, Keziah Jones, Ibrahim Maalouf, Joshua Redman and living legends such as The Gipsy Kings, Deep Purple and Dr John… 2015 The Nice Jazz Festival, a big impression in the history of jazz. The Nice Jazz Festival continued hosting the best of the national and international music scenes with more than 60,000 coming to see the official festival and the “Off” fringe. 2015’s godfather, the iconic figure of young jazz, Jamie Cullum, shared the bill with legends such as Charles Lloyd, Kenny Barron, Cerrone, The Roots and Kool and the Gang. Lovers of current music or fabulous voices were not neglected with Ms. Lauryn Hill, Ibeyi, Yael Naim and Benjamin Clementine. 2016 Festival cancelled. Following the terrorist attack on the Promenade des Anglais on the evening of 14 July 2016, the Prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes and Nice City Council took the decision to cancel the Nice Jazz Festival, which was due to commence on 16 July.